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China welcomes Bahrain’s call for national dialogue

China has joined a chorus of nations and the United Nations in welcoming a call by King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa to start a national dialogue after lifting the state of emergency.

“We hope that Bahrain will resume social stability and realise long-term peace at an early date,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement.

The US, UK and France as well as the UN have expressed confidence that the latest developments in the Kingdom would augur stability and security following four weeks of political turmoil and around 80 days of emergency laws.

“The UN secretary-general welcomed Bahrain’s lifting of emergency laws and King Hamad’s call for national dialogue, which Ban said must be “genuine, meaningful and inclusive and respond to the legitimate political, economic and social aspirations of all Bahraini people,” his spokesperson said.

Bahraini opposition formations have also welcomed the king’s call to start a national dialogue that will help determine the political future of Bahrain.

The decision by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on Friday to allow Bahrain to host a Formula One race in October was seen locally as a consolidation of growing peaceful tendencies in the country.

Al Wefaq, the largest opposition society, said that it supported the F1 decision.